When you think of French, you probably think of Paris. But the world’s largest French-speaking city by population isn’t in France—it’s Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

With over 17 million residents and French as the official language of government, education, and media, Kinshasa has more daily French speakers than Paris itself.

Paris may be the birthplace of the language, but Kinshasa is where it’s spoken the most.